to second guess, I grabbed higher up on the rope with one hand and pulled up to take some of my weight off the rope. I then began to untie the knot that secured the rope around my chest.
“Pendragon, what are you doing?” Gunny shouted in horror.
“I need more rope,” I called back. “This’llgive me another couple of feet.”
It was a totally scary maneuver. If I could untie the knot, I could use the extra length of rope that was wrapped around my chest to lower myself down a few more feet. Hopefully that would get me low enough to touch my feet to the railing and swing into the balcony.
Yeah, hopefully. It could also be suicide.
I had to pull myself up with one hand, and untie the knot with the other. To make things worse, if that’s possible, the knot was now squeezed into a tiny, tight ball because my whole weight had been pulling on it.
And it started to rain.
The fabric was getting wet and slick. This was insane.
So with one hand I pulled myself up; with the other hand I worked on the knot. It was really hard. After a few minutes my arm started to scream with pain from the stress. I wasn’t sure which was going to give out first, my arm or the rope. But I couldn’t rest. If I put my weight back on the rope, the knot would pull tight and I’d have to start over.
This was quickly looking like a very bad idea.
After a few agonizing minutes, I managed to loosen up the knot. The next step was the scary one. My right arm was shot. I had to reach up and grab the rope with my left arm to give it a rest. I couldn’t let my full weight back on the rope now. The knot was too loose. If I let go, the only thing that would break my fall was the pavement.
With a couple of quick tugs, I pulled the knot entirely free, then grabbed the rope with both hands. I was now hanging by my hands. My really tired hands. I then slipped down a few inches at a time, letting the slick rope slide through my hands. The pain was incredible. I was so tired.
I checked to see how much of the rope was left and saw about a foot until the end. This was going to be close. Then, with only a few inches of rope left, I felt the railing with my toe, I was there!
But I wasn’t safe yet. My arms were straight up over my head and I was still staring at building. I was so freakin’ close, but still not low enough to swing in. I was going to have to put my full weight on the rail, let go of the rope, and duck under the ceiling. Sounds easy, right? It wasn’t. It was totally awkward. Making it worse, the narrow rail was slick with rain.
I eased myself down until my feet were resting on the rail. Man, it felt great to be on something solid again. There wasn’t much more than an inch of rope left, but that was okay. For the first time, I thought I was going to make it. I gingerly let go of the rope, putting all my weight on my feet. I then started to crouch down to duck under the ceiling and jump onto the balcony when…
My feet slipped.
It all went so fast that I’m not exactly sure what happened. Luckily, when my feet went off the rail, they slipped toward the balcony side, not toward air. That saved my life. But when I fell, I was so close to the rail that my head thumped against the hard, slick metal. Our escape plan had worked, but we weren’t any closer to getting out of there, because that head slam knocked me straight into dreamland.
I found myself lying on a beach. It was the Point in Stony Brook. Best beach in the world. At least it was the best beach in Stony Brook. Mark, how many times did we ride our bikes there to hang out for hours, watching the girls? I can still picture that pink bikini Courtney got last summer. Courtney, hot suit. Yeah, I was lying in the sand at the Point, listening to the waves, kicking back, hanging.
When I opened my eyes I expected to see you, Mark. Or Courtney, or any of the other kids from class, kicking it right along with me. Instead, I saw Dewey.
His eyes were as big as baseballs as he stared down at me.
“Pendragon!” he shouted, all nervous. “Are you alive?”
I wasn’t sure. But dead people didn’t get headaches, so I figured I was still among the living. I slowly sat up and looked around. All thoughts of the beach at Stony Brook and Courtney’s pink bikini were long gone. Oh, well. Dewey’s face pretty much ended that. Instead, I saw that I was lying on the floor of the ballroom on the twenty- ninth floor of the hotel. It was the same ballroom where we saved Max Rose’s life. It was empty now, except for Dewey and me.
“I was gonna call a doctor, but Gunny told me not to,” Dewey whined. “You want me to get one?”
“No,” I said quickly. I probably needed one, but now wasn’t the time. “I’m fine. Where’s Gunny?”
“Downstairs. He told me to wait with you till he got back. Did you really climb down that drapery?”
It all came back to me-Saint Dane, being locked in the penthouse, Ludwig Zell, the trip down the rope, the fall. I really wished I were on that beach in Stony Brook.
“One of the cooks found you lying here,” Dewey said. “But you were out cold. He saw the rope hanging down and found Gunny upstairs. Pendragon, there’s a dead body up there! Who is that? How did you two get locked in the penthouse?”
“Long story,” I said. Then another thought hit me. “What time is it?”
Dewey looked at his watch and said, “Almost three o’clock.”
Yeow. If I wasn’t awake before, I was now. I had been out for hours! TheHindenburgwas going to arrive in four hours and we were still in Manhattan!
“I gotta get outta here,” I said as I tried to get up. But the pain shot through my head like a bolt of lightning. It pushed me right back down to the floor.
“Don’t move,” Dewey said. “I’ll get you some water.” He ran off, leaving me alone.
This was bad. Very bad. Where was Gunny? I forced myself to sit up, then pulled myself into a chair. I had to get my act together and down to New Jersey, or everything would be lost. TheHindenburgwas going to land at 7:25. Gunny said it was a four-hour drive down to Lakehurst. Even if we left at that very minute, we still wouldn’t get down there until almost seven o’clock. That wouldn’t leave much time to figure a way to stop Spader and Max Rose.
“We’re in trouble,” came a voice from behind me. It was Gunny. He jogged across the ballroom toward me.
“I’ve been out for hours, Gunny! Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Because I was trying to find us a ride down to New Jersey,” was his answer.
Good answer. ”I didn’t find one,” he added.
Ooh, bad answer.
“What do you mean? What about Caplesmith’s car?”
“I went to the fella who’s been fixing it. It’s in pieces all over the garage floor. He said it would take him half a day to put it back together.”
“Then we’ll take the bus. Gunny, we gotta get down there.”
“That’s not good,” Gunny answered. “The last bus going down that way today left at noon.”
“What about a train?” I asked.
“Still no good. Earliest we could get down there would be tomorrow morning.”
“This is incredible!” I shouted, jumping up. Bad move. Another bolt of pain shot through my head. It didn’t stop my tirade though. “Three territories are going to crumble because we can’t get a ride?”
“I’m sorry, Pendragon,” Gunny said. “Unless you know some way of flying down there, we’re out of luck.”
I stopped short. My bruised brain raced. Gunny had said the magic word. Flying.
“C’mon,” I said, and ran for the elevator. Gunny was right behind me. We blew right past Dewey, who was headed toward us with a glass of water.
“Where you going?” he asked.
I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along. After all, he ran the elevator.
Five minutes later we were standing in front of room 1515. I knocked and closed my eyes. I had no idea if she was still staying at the hotel, but this was our last hope. After a few agonizing seconds, the door opened and we stood facing Jinx Olsen. ”Pendragon! Gunny! Here to say good-bye?” she exclaimed. “Come on in.” She walked back into her room, where I saw all of her clothes spread out on the bed. She was packing up her duffel bag.
“You’re leaving?” I asked.
